Kavin Can’t Even Quickie: Food Babe, Did You Know that “Indian” Isn’t a Language?

This will be an extremely short edition of “Kavin Can’t Even.” I have been taking one for the team and reading Vani Hari’s book, “Food Babe Way,” a New York Times bestseller. For the life of me, I cannot imagine how anyone believes that this book is factually accurate. Even her personal anecdotes are reductionist to the extreme. Case in point:

“Dad and Mom had my brother first and then, seven years later, me. They named me Vani, a name I hated as a child because my schoolmates made fun of it and no one could pronounce it. But in Indian, it means “voice”—how prophetic, because I’ve definitely developed one.”

-Food Babe Way, page 7

Vani must be aware that there is no language called “Indian.” India is a vast, diverse nation with a rich and varied culture, where over a hundred officially recognized languages are spoken. More accurately, “Vani” can mean “voice” or “expression of thoughts” in Hindi; the word originated from Sanskrit. If she is aware of this fact, does she not believe her audience to be savvy enough to look up the word “Hindi?”

By the way, my name “Kavin,” is pronounced exactly like the word, “coven.” Growing up, almost nobody pronounced it correctly. It means “beauty” in Tamil, my parents’ native language. Apparently they had high hopes for their daughter to be beautiful, or to bring beauty to the world? I love my name, though I didn’t appreciate it until adulthood.

If you share this post, please remember to use hashtag #KavinCantEven. Until next time!

My parents moved from Tamil Nadu, in the southeastern tip of India, a few years before I was born. Image credit

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The Skepchick Network is a collection of smart and often sarcastic blogs focused on science and critical thinking. The original site is Skepchick.org, founded by Rebecca Watson in 2005 to discuss women’s issues from a skeptical standpoint.